If you are considering losing some weight, the best way to document your progress is to create your own personalized weight loss chart. Charting your progress will show you on a daily, weekly or monthly basis the positive changes you are making and continue to make.

It is always easier to see what you are doing and compare it to where you started and even give you a good idea as to where you are headed. This is called visualization. People who learn to visualize what they want and then map out and keep track of how they are doing are exponentially more successful than those who do not.

If you want to start this for yourself, go out and get a dry erase board with a couple of different colored dry erase markers. Some may even come with the blank calendar on them. You could have a whole month planned out in advance if you get one like this. First, in one color, write the name of the month and fill in the dates. Next, document your beginning weight on the first day of the month. You will be able to compare the difference when you weigh yourself at the end of the month.

Have someone help you measure your chest, waist, hips, thighs and right upper arm. Write these measurements down on a blank space on the calendar. If you are really self conscious then keep this weight loss chart where only you have access to it. Measure every month or so to track inches lost as well as your weight loss.

Another good way to track progress is to take before, during, and after pictures of yourself. Tack them up alongside your dry erase board and that way all your information is in one place. You will be able to tell at a glance how much progress you are making. This will help the motivation factor stay at a high level and encourage you to keep on going.

You could even use this board to plan your menus for the week or even month. This may take a while but just like they do for your kids at school Map out what your diet will consist of. I don’t care if it is just what you will make for dinner each day. To make it even more involved then plan out each meal and your snacks, too, for that matter. Track your water consumption as well. If you just make a little check mark at the bottom of the calendar for every glass of water you drink then that should be just fine.

Take this load off of yourself and this way all you have to do is look at what you have planned for dinner and just make it. Be sure to have all the ingredients on hand though. Make your grocery list for the week by what your recipes call for. Your weight loss chart can have all of this information and more on it. All to help you stay on track and lose all the weight you want. Use a different color marker for each entry or category so you can keep them straight and make it easier to tell what’s what.

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Before you start losing weight it is a good idea to prepare yourself on several fronts. Making sure that the motivation factor is present is one of the first things but most importantly you should learn to use a weight loss calculator to make sure you are burning more calories than you take in each day.

The process is simple. First calculate the amount of calories you need every day. For most people, to lose weight, you should consume 1200 to 1500 calories per day. The calculation is easy. All you do is input your height and weight and level of activity then do the math.

This weight loss calculator will tell you the amount of calories you need to be able to maintain your current weight. Since you do not want to maintain your current weight, you want to shed some of those pounds then you need to take in about 500 calories less than what that calculation gives you.

Next, calculate how many calories are in each serving of food you eat. You may have to practice at measuring out just exactly what a serving size is to get good at it. Make sure you are accurate and aren’t sneaking in just a little more here or there. Those little sneak-ins will add up and all of a sudden you will wonder why you are not losing the weight you want anymore.

Go buy yourself a book that lists calories for servings of food that do not come with labels like fresh fruits and vegetables, or do a search online. You might be able to find a list for free online. Do the same for eating out and when you do eat out make better choices based on what you learn online.

Know how many calories are in each gram of fat, carbohydrates and protein. This will help you when you figure out the percentages of each one that you need each day. So, keep this in mind: Carbohydrates and proteins have an equal amount of calories in each gram at 4 and fats have 9 calories per gram. Fats should make up no more than 30% of your daily calorie count. Carbs and protein should make up 50% and 20% respectively of your daily calorie intake.

Make sure they are good carbs though. The carbs you get from breads and cereals and sugar are overly processed and you should avoid them completely. Basically anything that is made with “white” products. White flour, white sugar, white rice should simply be avoided. These are all considered bad carbs and do nothing for you accept keep you gaining weight and fat around the middle.

The best way to use your weight loss calculator is to do it all yourself. Keep careful records in a small notebook in your purse or in your car so it is handy when you need to write something down. Maybe you could even get an app for that for your phone so you can keep all the information you need right at your fingertips.

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